The Hotel Smell

I am currently working at a nice Holiday Inn that generates a lot of business, and I found out that the familiar hotel-pool-chlorine smell that seems to permeate every hotel is, in fact, purchased. It comes in large buckets, and is a powdery substance. Each morning, someone from maintenance will unlock a small window on the ventilation system, fill a tray with the powder, and slides it in. Voila! The buckets we receive have many codes on them, but I can't track down the company name to find who is responsible, but it sure is interesting regardless.

In addition, we have several scents we'll put into the vents that lead to our ball/catering rooms. We have a leather scent for business, a somewhat fruity scent for parties, and a rose scent for weddings.

Re: The Hotel Smell

Some hotels use ionisers, which also create that ozonic pool smell. (My grandfather was a hotelier, and he took the smell of the common areas seriously enough to invest in ozone machines himself.) I really enjoy hotels which are actively perfumed (you see a lot of this in Las Vegas) - there are a few companies which deal in fragrancing huge spaces like casino hotels, high-end shops and so on.

Scentair's site is an interesting read; it's a company that specialises in hotel/shop scenting. I've actually gone so far as to buy bottled 'hotel smell' at Mandalay Bay in Vegas so we have something to squirt on the bedlinen at home to remind us of holidays!

Re: The Hotel Smell

Originally Posted by Squeezeweasel

Some hotels use ionisers, which also create that ozonic pool smell. (My grandfather was a hotelier, and he took the smell of the common areas seriously enough to invest in ozone machines himself.) I really enjoy hotels which are actively perfumed (you see a lot of this in Las Vegas) - there are a few companies which deal in fragrancing huge spaces like casino hotels, high-end shops and so on.

Scentair's site is an interesting read; it's a company that specialises in hotel/shop scenting. I've actually gone so far as to buy bottled 'hotel smell' at Mandalay Bay in Vegas so we have something to squirt on the bedlinen at home to remind us of holidays!

Oh good lord... I LOVE the scent of Mandalay Bay's lobby. It's heavenly. It reminds me of a very romantic vacation I took there in December '06. Where do you get it? Does the hotel gift shop sell it??

Re: The Hotel Smell

Linnea - yup, you can get it in the shop in the lobby. (The shop by the lifts and the shop with the branded clothing don't carry it, but it's always in the lobby shop.) They usually have lamp diffusing rings, pot pourri, room spray and a pot pourri refresher spray for sale. It's called Coconut Spice, and it makes a lovely room fragrance for those of us who have experienced very romantic vacations there!

Re: The Hotel Smell

While we're on the subject of scented hotels... Westin hotels actually have a proprietary "White Tea" scent that's used to scent their lobbies. I stayed in two Westin hotels recently (one in Vancouver, the other outside of Chicago), and I loved the scent... sort of a Mugler Cologne-esque scent with a bit of an aquatic touch.

And yes, you can buy it off of their website for your own use.

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Re: The Hotel Smell

I find that interesting too. I stayed at a Comfort Suites in Dallas during a Hurricane Evacuation for Ike a few years ago, and they pump fresheners in the AC as well. I inquired about it and she said they couldn't tell me what it is, but she told me to go to the Dollar General store and buy the Black Ice spray as it smells IDENTICAL. It's actually by the brand "Little Tree"; those trees you put in your car for air freshener.

Re: The Hotel Smell

That's interesting. As someone who hasn't spent too much time thinking about marketing or branding, I never would have thought of it that way, but it definitely makes sense. It's always intriguing to me when I learn about all the time and effort that has gone into crafting aspects of the day to day - or making things work the way that they do.

Anyway, I'm a newbie, but I've noticed myself relying on connotations (more than specific notes or combinations of notes) to navigate the world of colognes. Perhaps at some point in the future, I'll be able to connect up in an explicit or non-subconscious way how the use of specific notes or combinations of notes might go with kinds of connotations.

Re: The Hotel Smell

I travel a lot for business, and can say without a doubt that the worst, smelliest hotels are Westins. They absolutely soak them this horrid "white tea" fragrance that comes off more as "white chemical meltdown." The smell is truly atrocious, and it permeates every nook and cranny. I cannot wait to leave them on the few, recent, unfortunate times my corporate travel planner has booked me into these places. I ALWAYS leave scathing reviews on the cheery "How are we doing?" comment cards.

Some Hyatts do this too - a very similar "white tea" fragrance. W T F ? ! ? I cannot imagine this going over well with more than, say 10% of their guests (or hapless victims, as the case may be).

Only good that's come of this: I learned to carry my own soap, shampoo, and plenty of fragrance samples when I travel. It's bad enough when these idiots want to scent their guests to match the carpet and draperies. The idea of layering in matching soap and shampoo is an abomination.

Re: The Hotel Smell

I stayed in a hotel in Austin once, that smelled divine. I actually asked what they used, but the hotel clerks/concierge did not know. The next time I was in Austin, I stayed at the same place *because* of the smell. But, to my dismay, they had changed their scent!!! Alas, I'll never know what that was!

(Edit: It was the Doubletree hotel across the freeway from the Children's hospital downtown.)

Last edited by Aiona; 16th March 2011 at 05:54 AM.

"Embrace those things which give you pleasure, after all, there is so much mediocrity to endure elsewhere." -- Inselaffe

Re: The Hotel Smell

I actually haven't been to too many hotels at home in the US, but when I stayed at Bellagio in Vegas, it smelled so good! I asked several employees what the scent was, but they all denied that the hotel was scented. My relatives thought I was crazy! They said it was all of the floral arrangements. There was something too good to be fake about it. It was like a floral coconut. I was hanging out at Caesars Place and a maintenance employee was cleaning and there was a similar scent. It was the marble polish. He said it was a special, natural product. A few years later, buying polish for my mom's table...there it was...coconutty, but not floral. Not that special, bought it at the grocery store. It is natural. I think they did a great job of choosing complementary scents including something they were pumping in.

Re: The Hotel Smell

Originally Posted by mrcologneguy

I travel a lot for business, and can say without a doubt that the worst, smelliest hotels are Westins. They absolutely soak them this horrid "white tea" fragrance that comes off more as "white chemical meltdown." The smell is truly atrocious, and it permeates every nook and cranny. I cannot wait to leave them on the few, recent, unfortunate times my corporate travel planner has booked me into these places. I ALWAYS leave scathing reviews on the cheery "How are we doing?" comment cards.

Some Hyatts do this too - a very similar "white tea" fragrance. W T F ? ! ? I cannot imagine this going over well with more than, say 10% of their guests (or hapless victims, as the case may be).

Only good that's come of this: I learned to carry my own soap, shampoo, and plenty of fragrance samples when I travel. It's bad enough when these idiots want to scent their guests to match the carpet and draperies. The idea of layering in matching soapand shampoo is an abomination.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about the W Hotels chain. But I have to dis-agree with you on the Hyatt. I think the Hyatt ambiance is quite nice. I stay at the Hyatt a lot, most recently at the Hyatt Place Hotel in San Antonio, TX.

Re: The Hotel Smell

Very cool. Seems like more and more companies are picking up on this. Sony stores also pipe fragrance in. Abercrombie & Fitch does as well, as anyone who has walked within ten miles of one is sure to have noticed. I read an article on a very high end car, I cant remember which one, that had an inline scent system for the A/C as well. At purchase, you had to choose the fragrance you wanted.

I of course haven't experienced them first hand, but, I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night!

Re: The Hotel Smell

Originally Posted by mrcologneguy

I travel a lot for business, and can say without a doubt that the worst, smelliest hotels are Westins. They absolutely soak them this horrid "white tea" fragrance that comes off more as "white chemical meltdown." The smell is truly atrocious, and it permeates every nook and cranny. I cannot wait to leave them on the few, recent, unfortunate times my corporate travel planner has booked me into these places. I ALWAYS leave scathing reviews on the cheery "How are we doing?" comment cards.

On one level I find this perfuming of a whole space dangerous for a business, because people's tastes in scent are so different. One runs the risk of doing just what this Westin has done to MrCologne. Ozoning however might be "neutral" enough.

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Re: The Hotel Smell

OMG!!!! Nooooo..... Screams running from the thread

But wearing personal fragrance to the office/on public transport etc might cause someone to be "ill" and "react" so workplaces have policies deciding on the acceptability of fragrance in their workers? Yet aroma chemicals are routinely pumped into public spaces?

Is there a difference in the rights of individuals and the rights of big business?

Re: The Hotel Smell

I just got back from Las Vegas and I stayed at the Vdara Suites and they have a very very nice smell. So does the Aria. You can actually purchase the scent sticks they sell in the spa. Their signature scent is called "Green Fig". Here is a link...